NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Baserunning errors and a quiet early offense hurt the SteepleCats in their first game.

The North Adams SteepleCats fell to the Danbury Westerners 9-3 Tuesday night in their first game of the 2018 NECBL season. North Adams stranded some runners on base throughout the innings, but couldn’t keep up with the offense of the Westerners.

Danbury pitcher Eli Oliphant kept the SteepleCats offense in check for most of the game, going 6 innings while allowing only 1 hit. Oliphant was credited with the win. For North Adams, starter Brandon Alberto was given the loss after going 4 innings, allowing 5 hits and 3 runs.

The SteepleCats had hard-hit balls, but most were right into the Westerners defense. Several runners thrown out in the base path hurt their chances to produce runs.

“I thought our offensive approach from beginning to end was solid. I thought we barreled up some balls real well and had some real good at-bats. It was just one of those nights that the balls we seemed to hit hard went right to their defense, just nothing you can really do about that,” said head coach Justin Sumner.

Jackson Coutts had a good day at the plate for the SteepleCats, getting 2 hits in 4 at-bats. Joe Porricelli gave the SteepleCats their only RBI, with their other 2 runs coming on a wild pitch and a passed ball.

“We have Christopher Cepeda going on the mound Thursday, and a couple of other guys coming in from an offensive standpoint that will really help round this lineup out. We’re really looking to use that to springboard the next couple of weeks,” said Sumner.

Up next for the SteepleCats: their home opener against the Upper Valley Nighthawks on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available at www.steeplecats.org or an hour prior to the game at the SteepleCats box office at Joe Wolfe Field.

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